


Who is Jerome?

by DarkLordFluffy



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alice Tetch virus, Amnesia, Amnesic Jerome Valeska, Jerome is an Indian Hill escapee, Metahumans, What if Strange brought back Jerome himself?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29050920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkLordFluffy/pseuds/DarkLordFluffy
Summary: What if Hugo Strange brought back Jerome back in Indian Hill? How different would Jerome be if he couldn't remember who he was? If he couldn't remember the trauma of his abusive childhood? J's first memory was of a lab. Despite his disturbing metahuman ability, he thought himself rather normal. Until he finds out who Jerome was. How does one deal with that kind of past? And how will he deal with a future where everyone expects him to act like Jerome?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Who is Jerome?

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't realize that Jervis was going to spend any real time in my fic in the beginning. The whole rhyming thing is a pain to write so forgive me if I don't do it most of the time. I'll stick with making him polite and reciting Alice in Wonderland when he gets really bad. I do love his character but really wish I hadn't done this to myself.

Being born was weird. First there was darkness and nothingness and then pain, bright lights, and confusion. J gasped and his eyes fluttered. He found himself in a white sterile room with several people in white clothing. He didn't know where he was. And hell, he couldn't seem to remember just who he was either. It was rather disconcerting. The look on this one Asian guy's face in the room also seemed disconcerting too. It looked almost like pride.

"Welcome back." said the bespectacled Asian that seemed to fit every mad scientist stereotype. "Do you remember who you are?"

J tried to think about the answer to that question. If he tried hard enough he saw bright colored lights and blood and felt the sweet taste of adrenaline and freedom. But he had no idea what any of these things meant to him. He had a vague feeling that his name might start with a J but couldn't figure out what came after J. "What the hell? I can't. Who am I? Why can't I remember?"

The Asian man seemed a little disappointed but recovered quickly. "Never mind that now. Just rest for a bit. Get some sleep. And I will tell you what you need to know later."

"If you know who I am then tell me now. Not later. I'm seriously confused here. What happened to me? Tell me!" J yelled at the man, struggling in his restraints.

"Calm down, my son. There is no need to get agitated. You are safe." Mr. Mad Science said. He got a out a syringe and looked at J as if daring him to continue struggling. J was confused, angry, and in pain. He wasn't just going to lie down and take this. He continued struggling as the scientist came forward with the syringe. J was close to freaking out. It actually took him longer than it should have to notice when the lab assistants started clutching their heads and nervously mumbled nonsensical things. But then he noticed and stared at them in confusion. The scientist stared at them curiously as well. And a few moments later the men shook their heads and were back to normal. "Well that was interesting. I think I know what I can call you, my son. You are Dionysus. The god of madness and revelry. You simply don't remember your name because of an accident. It will be ok. We will help you."

"I'm a god?" J asked skeptically. "Bullshit."

"It is true. We aren't entirely sure of your true power yet but if we explore it we can figure it out. But you don't have to feel scared. You are safe."

Before he could really explain how ridiculous the idea he was a god was, J was injected with a sedative which took a lot longer to knock him out than was expected. The lab assistant knocked him out with a punch in his impatience. 

When J woke up in a small cell he still couldn't figure out who he was. But he had flashes of things ever so often. He tried to go back to sleep since he was still groggy but his sleep was troubled with bad dreams. He even woke up choking after he had a nightmare that involved him being stabbed in the neck. He couldn't quite see who did it though. He figured that the mad scientist guy must be messing with him because, even though he had no clue who he was, he was definitely not the Greek god of wine and parties. He had no idea how he even knew who that was but he did. A god would be able to get out of the situation he had found himself in. Though he wasn't sure what situation he had found himself in. Was he in a lab of some sort? Was he some sort of science experiment? So weird.

A plate of tasteless mush was shoved into his cell at one point. He ate it because he had nothing else to do. Then when he thought he would start dying of boredom, a guard opened his cell and two guards attempted to grab him out of his cell. J backed up against the wall. He didn't want to go wherever they were taking him. Soon though, they were clutching their heads and babbling nonsense words like they were crazy. What the hell was going on? He slipped out of the room, leaving them acting like mental patients and found himself in a hallway full of locked doors. And through each door seemed to be another scared person in the same outfit as J. But a few of the doors contained people who looked a lot less human than the others. Where was he? A few guards saw him out and about and one ran off to sound the alarm. The others tried to detain him but also found themselves acting nervous and mental like the others. J stared at them in surprise. Was he doing this? Could he drive people insane? The alarm went off and so he ran. He didn't know where he was running really. He figured that the place had to have at least one exit and he'd eventually find it. And the guards seemed a bit distracted with newly minted mental issues. But he probably should've been paying more attention, because he was hit with a dart filled with sedative. And this dose was a lot more than the last time they tried to dose him. So it worked this time. He passed out to the face of the mad scientist dude staring at him with a fascinated look.

When J woke up he was strapped down again. He was alone in the room but he saw that there was a one way mirror and figured that he was being watched. But what were they watching him for?

"That was quite the show you put on. I would very much like to see it again in a controlled environment." said the voice of the mad scientist over a speaker. "Do you think you can demonstrate it for us?"

"The thing that was going on with the guards? So that was me? What did I do to them?" J asked curiously.

"You seemed to cause them severe mental disturbance. It was temporary. It may be connected with your emotions. You were agitated at the time."

Two guards shoved what looked like a mental patient, complete with odd uniform, into the room before quickly closing the door behind them. The guy in the black and white stripped outfit looked around confused and then saw J and stared at him curiously.

"Dio, if you would now like to practice on this test subject? You may start whenever you feel ready. He is lucid enough that it might still effect him." the scientist said.

J realized that the scientist was talking to him but it took a few seconds. The guy had called him Dio but he realized he was referring to his claim that J was a Greek god named Dionysus. Did he really think J would fall for that? But the idea that he had superpowers was pretty cool. So J tried tapping into whatever he had done before. He tried thinking back to what he had been feeling. He was freaked out and wanted to get away. It had been a defense mechanism maybe. He stared at the mental patient.

"Hey what's going on?" said the mental patient looking at J. "Don't I know you? Yeah. I've seen you before. Do you need help getting out of those restraints?" he went over to fiddle with J's restraints. 

J just stared at him and tried to tap into that power he had. He tried to put himself in the same state of mind. The "I'm in danger" mode. The guy had the restraint on his arm half off before he suddenly stopped what he was doing and wandered off to the other side of the room, mumbling and then started smashing his head against the wall really hard until he was unconscious. J stared in shock. It had worked!

"Excellent. Well done." said the smug scientist. "I will let you rest for now. We are going to keep you restrained for the moment but after a few tests and such we will let you go back to your room to rest properly."

A gas filtered into the room and it made J pass out.

An undeterminable amount of time passed. J woke up but couldn't really keep his eyes open. He felt so groggy. He was still strapped to the table but couldn't figure anything else out. A lab assistant was in the room running some tests. J noticed the guy looking around to see if he was alone and then got close to J and talked with him in a quiet voice so no one else would hear. "Just hang on for a bit longer. I'll figure out a way to get you out of here, Jerome. You have so many people waiting to meet you. You have so many fans now. And they'll be thrilled to see you alive. So don't make Hugo Strange mad. Just do as he says for a bit and we'll be out of here soon. I swear I'll figure something out. Also if you could just make sure not to hit me with that ability of yours that would be great. If Strange thinks I can get you to trust me enough to not make me a drooling mess like you've made everyone else, then I can stay close to you." The guy looked up as if he heard something and then rushed off. J couldn't understand what the guy was talking about. Who was Jerome? Did this Jerome guy really have fans? Was this lab assistant guy going to help him because he thought he was this Jerome guy? He got dosed with another spray of gas into the room. He really wish they would stop that. 

J's next few days were mostly uneventful. He was confined to his cell and heavily drugged. He figured they didn't want him lucid enough to make anyone else less than lucid. He did notice a lot of rushing around outside the window to his door. He wondered what was going on. At one point the gas was pumped into his cell, making him pass out.

J woke up groggy and confused. He found himself in a bus full of other people. Some of the people looked a lot less than human. Others looked relatively normal. They were looking around at each other wondering what would happen next. J saw that he was sitting near a pretty blond girl who looked pretty normal. 

"Are you ok? They brought you into the bus unconscious." the blond girl asked him.

J stared at her. "Yeah. Just groggy. I assume they just didn't want me to make them drooling babbling crazies. Last time they tried to move me fully conscious I nearly got out. What's going on? Are they taking us somewhere?"

"I don't know. They seem very frantic. I think they are moving us to a different location." the girl said.

"I don't think they intended me to wake up this early. Maybe I can effect the bus driver and whatever guard they put on the bus. Maybe I can help us get out of this somehow." J said.

"What ability do you have? Why do they have you here?" the girl asked curious.

"I don't know why they have me. The first thing I remember is waking up in the lab. I don't know who I am. All I think I remember is that I had a name starting with J?" J said. "But it seems as if I can make people go a bit nutso if they are around me and I feel threatened by them. I think its temporary. Or at least was told that by the mad scientist dude. But I don't really trust anything that dude says. He tried to convince me I was the Greek god Dionysus. So idiotic."

"I'm the same. Well sort of. My blood drives people insane. But its not temporary what happens with my blood. Its like some virus. I have no control over it." the girl said uncomfortably. "I'm Alice."

"J. Like I said. Nice to meet you. I guess us test subjects got to stick together huh? Maybe we can figure out a way to get out of this. There's a lab assistant that seems to like me for some reason and is trying to get me out. I can get him to help maybe."

"One guy isn't likely to be able to help all that much. I wouldn't get your hopes up." Alice said sadly.

"Well I refuse to be contained like this. So I'll figure some way out. Maybe I can use this whole moving to a different location to my advantage. Like I said, I don't think they intended me to wake up this soon."

Suddenly outside in the garage, an intimidating black woman strode towards the bus. As two guards came up to her, she touched them and they put their weapons down and knocked themselves out when she told them to do so. Alice looked very uncomfortable when she saw that. The security system seemed to choose that moment to malfunction because the garage door started opening. The woman quickly got into the bus's driver seat and turned on the engine. She drove them out of the garage and sped away.

The test subjects stared at each other with hopeful looks. She obviously was one of them and had gotten away somehow. Now she was driving them to freedom.

"Do you think we'll get away? I really hope we do." Alice said looking at J with hope in her eyes.

"Well it certainly looks that way." J said, grinning happily at her.

The further they went, the more hope shown in everyone's eyes. But then the cops started chasing them. J had a big sense of deja vu hearing the sirens. Was he a criminal? Was that why he felt a rush of adrenaline and giddiness when he heard the sirens? He very much doubted he had been a cop. The bus sped down the road. The badass woman was flooring it and managed to maneuver the bus by any obstacle. It looked like they had lost the cops at some point and most of them breathed a sigh of relief. But it was at that point that something hit the bus really hard and the bus crashed.

J lost consciousness during the crash. Alice shook him awake looking very worried for him. "J please wake up. Please."

"Five more minutes mom." J grumbled as he woke. Alice smiled in relief. J looked around. Most of the test subjects were still alive but many were pretty banged up. Some were still unconscious. Many were chained to the seats. J got up and started picking the locks. He had no idea how he knew how to pick locks but he didn't question it. He managed to get everyone free. Then he went up to the back door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. He looked for the dude that looked a bit like a crocodile but the guy looked pretty dazed still. "Damn it. I don't think these doors can be opened from the inside."

Just as J thought about giving up, he noticed an old woman outside of the bus staring at them in concern. 

"There's someone outside. Everyone make as much noise as you can. Well everyone who sounds human. We don't want to scare her." J said. "Help! Get us out of here!"

Several of the other test subjects yelled along with him and the woman walked up to the door and opened it. She backed up looking very scared when she saw them all.  
They helped each other get out of the bus. Some were more beat up than others. J climbed out and felt the breeze on his face for the very first time. For all intensive purposes this was the first time he had ever been outside. It was a very good feeling. He closed his eyes and smiled. The giddiness bubbled up and he let out a laugh that sounded a bit deranged if he really thought about it. J was free. He could do whatever he wanted now. And woe to anyone to that tried to lock him up ever again. He would use those fascinating powers of his to make sure of that. 

The test subjects found an abandoned building nearby and huddled there, not really sure what to do next. That is, until the badass black woman came back.

"There you are. I'm glad you all survived. I'm sorry for leaving you all. But we need to stick together. The police probably want to lock us all up again. We can't let that happen to any of us. This city is not going to accept us. Things will be hard. But we will survive if we work together. We will make them accept us. We aren't monsters. We aren't test subjects. We are people! We deserve the same consideration that any person in this city has. We are all we've got for now. But that's ok. That makes us family." the woman said. "My name is Fish Mooney. If you will let me, I can help us figure out a way to survive. And get the acceptance we all deserve. Even if we have to take it by force."

Almost all of the test subjects seemed very on board with letting Fish lead them. Someone had to after all. And many of them had no idea what they were going to do now so having someone tell them what to do was ideal. It helped them cope. J thought Fish had style. And she definitely knew how to motivate people. So he stayed with the group for the moment. They found a safe place in the Narrows for them to stay.

J tended to hang out with Alice those first few days. She was not doing well. She was always so nervous she'd cut herself on something. J didn't blame her. Her blood caused insanity. Not the delusional confused insanity that J seemed to cause. A violent and dangerous insanity is what it caused she described to him one day. It was like it brought out the very worst qualities in a person and amplified them until that was all the person had left. It scared her. So J helped her make sure she stayed safe. She was the first person he had really talked to that wasn't in a lab coat so he stuck by her. Plus, their abilities were similar in a way so they could relate. J found it hard to control his powers sometimes in the beginning so people around him sometimes started getting a bit confused and delusional. So people tended to avoid him. But Alice understood. She stuck by him despite that. And it did seem like his power effected her less so he was grateful for that. Perhaps her blood dispelled some of his power before it could effect her brain.

A clever and sly looking girl with curly hair started hanging out with Fish after she learned Fish was alive. Apparently Fish had died but was brought back by Strange. The girl helped her out with anything she needed. It seemed like they had been close before she died. J was talking with Alice one day as the girl was walking through the building when she noticed J. Her eyes widened and she walked over.

"So Strange brought you back too? You don't really deserve that." she said sneering. "You threatened Bruce."

"Who?" J asked confused. "I don't know who you are talking about. So you know me? Strange brought me back like Fish? I guess that explains why my first memories were of waking up in the lab. But I can't remember who I was before that. I have some blurry images and feelings that don't make sense but nothing clear. Can you tell me about myself?"

"You can't remember anything?" the girl asked skeptical.

"Nothing. Just a vague idea that my name probably starts with a J but nothing else." J said.

She sighed. "You were a total psycho. You killed your own mom. Shot up the GCPD. And then threatened a charity event full of rich people. And held a knife to the throat of a person I care about. Theo Galavan stabbed you in the throat and you died. Honestly I kinda think you deserved it."

J clutched his throat after being told he was stabbed in the throat. "I've had a nightmare or two about being stabbed. I had no idea it was an actual memory. What was my name?"

"It's Jerome Valeska. And I really hope you don't go back to being as bad as you were. Weirdly, you seem rather normal right now. Is that an act?" the girl said.

"It's not an act. I had no idea I was a psycho. I don't feel psycho. Does someone know when they're psycho?" J asked with a frown.

"How am I supposed to know?" the girl said shrugging. "So I shudder to ask but what weird ability did Strange give you?"

"I'm not going to reassure you with my answer. I cause people around me to go temporarily insane. I've been trying to control it but when I'm agitated it acts up sometimes. Its so annoying." J said rolling his eyes.

The girl's eyes widened a bit but she didn't back away from him like most people did when they learned his power. Brave girl. "Well then I suppose its a little reassuring you seem somewhat sane at the moment. Having that kind of power and insanity would make you a bit of a nightmare."

"I guess I can't argue with you there." J said. 

A few days later, Alice expressed interest in leaving.

"But why?" J asked slightly upset. "We look after each other here. Out there who knows what could happen?"

"Can I be honest?" Alice asked. J nodded. "Fish sort of makes me uncomfortable with her mind control power. Its not personal or anything. I don't mind her as a person. But her power reminds me too much of someone I don't want to think about. And to be honest, I kind of want a normal life. And I'll never get that here. You can come with me, J. We can look after each other."

"I'd only put you at risk, Alice." J said sadly.

"I'm partially immune to your power, J. I'm not worried about that."

"That's not what I'm talking about, Alice." J said. "Even if I don't really know who Jerome Valeska is, the rest of the city seems to. I go out in public and that's all they see. The police will eventually know I'm alive. And they'll come after me. Shooting up their coworkers is not something they are just going to forgive. Even if I don't remember doing it. I can't have a normal life. That bastard, Jerome, saw to that."

"We could find some plastic surgeon that could change your face. There are ways to look different." Alice said, trying to reassure him.

"With what money? We'd only be able to afford a shady doctor and I'm not letting a shady doctor anywhere near my face. I do kinda like the way I look." J said. He sighed. "Go, Alice. Go live your life. No one actually knows what you look like. You can have a normal life if you avoid sharp things. I'll miss you but I'll survive. At least one of us should have an actual life. But if you need anything, you can come to me for help. For anything. And if you are in trouble I'll be there. That's what friends are for. You are the only metahuman that doesn't get uncomfortable around me. That means something to me."

Alice gave him a hug that he gratefully accepted. "Thank you for being so understanding. I wish things could be different for you."

"Yeah, if only I got saddled with Clayface's power. Then I could look like anyone I wanted. I'm not surprised the guy disappeared as soon as he could. With a power like that I'd disappear too." J said jokingly.

"I will try to keep in touch with you. If I need anything I'll tell you. I promise." Alice said smiling at him.

J smiled back at her. "Go out there and have a great life. Don't let anyone hold you back or tell you what you need to do."

"I don't intend on ever letting anyone tell me what to do. Not ever again." Alice said with a determined look. "Goodbye J. Stay safe."

"Always."

J really missed Alice after she left. But he barely had time to really mope about it. Fish was not doing well and they were out raiding pharmacies to find medication for her. J was often along because his power was enough to incapacitate anyone in their path with no trouble at all. And he had learned how to focus it a bit more, only making it effect the ones he wanted it to effect. Which was a relief for Fish and the metahumans that were with them since they had no desire to lose their minds even temporarily. Even so, they mostly made him their secret, only use in emergencies, kind of weapon. So he often had to wait while the others got to have fun. It was annoying.

They quickly realized that medication just wasn't going to cut it. They needed to figure out what was really wrong with Fish and stop it. And the only ones that could tell them that were someone from Indian Hill. Someone high up in Indian Hill actually. They searched for Ethel Peabody, by following Jim Gordon to where she was stashed by the cops. J waited outside as two other metahumans entered. The speedster named Sid and the batwing metahuman, whose name he didn't know. J was the last resort power as usual. So he waited mostly patiently in case he was called for. He heard a scuffle so he rushed up the stairs into the apartment. Jim Gordon was fighting the batwing guy while Sid rushed Peabody out the door. Jim lost his grip on the batwing guy when he saw J. Batwing guy escaped and Jim barely noticed as he stared at J in shock and a little horror. "Jerome? That bastard brought you back too?"

"We know each other? Sorry." J grimaced awkwardly. "Oh yeah, you're a cop, aren't you? And the whole police station thing. Well damn. This is awkward." He looked to make sure his cohorts were gone and decided it was time to leave. "Bye then." 

"Hold it!" Jim said aiming his gun at him. "I'm not letting you get away, Jerome. You're going back to Arkham where you belong."

J lost his awkward look and just looked angry. "That was the place above the lab right? I will never go back there. I won't let you put me back there. Sorry about this. But it's only temporary."

Jim began shaking his head to clear it but couldn't seem to clear it. He frowned and dropped his arm, his gun slipping out of his hand to the floor. He closed his eyes and started whispering to himself. J ran out the door to join his cohorts.

When J got back to where they were staying, he noticed a small redheaded girl snooping around. He grabbed her. 

"Hey!" the girl said. "Let me go!"

"Any particular reason why you happen to be here?" J asked suspicious.

"None of your business!" the girl said trying to get out of his hold.

"Right. Well, then you won't mind saying hi to a few friends of mine. Come on." he said dragging her into the building. "Fish! I caught someone snooping."

The group of metahumans looked up from what they were doing, which seemed to be killing Peabody through rapid aging, ala Marv. Marv could age people with a touch.

"Ivy?" Selina said, surprised.

"Selina, tell this creep to let go of me." the little girl said, J still holding her. She looked up at him and frowned. "Hey, you look familiar. Weren't you on tv?"

"I get that a lot." J said. "But not really the subject we're focusing on at the moment. Why were you spying?"

"She's my friend not a spy." Selina said. "What are you doing here Ivy?"

"I followed you the other day, so I knew where you went." Ivy said. Selina sighed and looked annoyed as if this kind of thing happened all the time with the girl. "Bruce Wayne came looking for you but he was acting all weird."

"Who else have you told about us?" Fish asked, looking rather dangerous.

"No one." Selina said for her.

"I asked her." Fish said.

"Selina..." Ivy said.

"Ivy shut up." Selina said with a worried look.

"They're those monsters everyone's talking about, aren't they?" Ivy said. J squeezed her arm just a bit too tightly and she squeaked. He glared at her.

"You had better tell your friend to be careful who she calls a monster." Fish said angry.

"You better stay away from me. All of you." the girl said, acting brave but stupid. "I'll tell!"

"Marv." Fish said, looking over at the man who could age people. J looked over at her. Was she serious? They were really going to kill a kid for being stupid and curious? His grip loosened and the girl got out and ran. The other metahumans ran after her as well as Selina. J stayed behind, not wanting to have anything to do with whatever they were planning for the kid. He had no idea what the state of Jerome's morals were but J drew the line at hurting kids. A bit later, Selina came back with tears running down her face. J wasn't sure he wanted to know what happened. 

J learned that Peabody didn't have the answers they needed to save Fish. They learned that only Hugo Strange could save her. So they had to find him. The only ones that might know were the cops. And the only cop Fish trusted to ask that might know was Harvey Bullock. So they went and found him. Nancy and Sid grabbed him and shoved him into the van they were in, sitting him down across from Fish. J sat in the corner next to Fish.

"Hello Harvey. Long time." Fish said. It was obvious they had been close at some point.

"Hey Fish. How you doing?" Bullock asked uncomfortably.

"Not so good." Fish said.

"Sorry to hear that." Bullock said before noticing J in the corner and gaping in shock at him. "Holy shit Jim was right. You're back too."

J rolled his eyes. "Yeah. yeah. I've heard it already several times. Its really starting to get old. This isn't why we are here so can we not change the subject? This is Fish's show."

Bullock stared at J for a few more moments before tearing his eyes away and looking back at Fish. "You know there's a lot of people out there looking for you."

"Yeah. I need to find that bastard, Strange." Fish said.

The cop didn't seem keen on helping but Fish went up and kissed him, using the skin contact to make him comply. They soon had the location.

They headed back to their place to load up a few more people and as they were doing that, J noticed that Alice was waiting for him near the entrance.

"Alice." J said going up to her. "You're back. What's wrong?"

"I need some help. My landlord..."

"Did he try to hurt you? Are you ok?" J asked concerned.

"It's not that. He's infected. I need your help. I don't know what to do with him." Alice said.

"I'd love to help but we are kind of in the middle of something." J said.

"Don't worry J. We probably won't need you this time. We're just grabbing Strange after all." Sid said. "Go ahead and help Alice and meet us there if you can. I'll explain to everyone where you are."

"Thanks Sid." J said. "Come on, Alice. Lets go."

When they got to her small apartment, he could hear angry babbling in her bathroom. The door was locked.

"Did you get your blood anywhere else?" J asked. "Do we need to clean up?"

"No. Just on him. He tried to attack me when I was late on my rent." Alice said. "My blood got in his mouth."

"How did it get in his mouth? Oh..." J sneered at the bathroom. "That kind of attack. I'm not all that sorry for him. He brought it on himself. Alright. Maybe I can calm him down with my crazy? I'm not sure how this works yet still. Your blood and my ability interact weirdly. I'm not sure what will happen."

J concentrated on the door and projected his ability into the area of the bathroom. The babbling angry man didn't babble any less and actually seemed to get more angry. And they heard a light pounding noise. J cautiously opened the door and found the man slamming his head against the wall. "I guess that didn't help anything."

"Don't let him start bleeding." Alice said concerned.

"Damn. He is bleeding a little on his head now. We may just have to set the apartment on fire. I don't know what else to do with the guy." J said, closing the door again.

"Just let me get a few things and lets do that. I can't let this spread." Alice said rushing off to get a few things.

J noticed that Alice kept a can of gasoline ready for this very situation. He grabbed it and spread the liquid around the apartment. He grabbed a box of matches and as they were leaving, threw a lit match into the apartment.

They watched from the curb for a few minutes as the building burned. 

"Thank you. For helping me. I didn't know who else to turn to."

"I did say to come to me if you needed anything. I didn't lie." J said smiling at her. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. It was hard enough finding that apartment." Alice said.

J didn't know how to help her. He had no way of helping her get an apartment. He knew the city even less than she did. He stared at a nearby bit of graffiti of a grinning face for a bit and wondered what he could do.

"I'll figure something out. Don't worry." J said reassuringly. "I just need to go check to see how our friends are doing finding Strange. And then I'll be back. Um... There's an abandoned building not far from here. Stay there for awhile and I'll be back."

"Don't be long. Please." Alice said.

"I won't be. I'll be right back." J said smiling.

J made his way to the location that the cop talked about. But what he saw when he got there shocked him. His friends... they were dead. An angry mob was piling them onto a burning pile of bodies. He fell to his knees at what he saw. They were treating his friends as if they were monsters to be destroyed. He felt rage growing within him. How dare they? His friends were victims not monsters. The mob seemed more like monsters with their current actions. He got up with a sneer on his face and walked forward until he was in view of the mob.

They looked at him and many of them looked unnerved to see him. He could tell which ones watched the news and knew who Jerome was. J didn't care how they viewed him at this point.

"You want to behave like psychopaths? Like monsters?" J said glaring at them. "You think us monsters, but you're the monsters. All you so called normal people. Well, since you want to act crazy, I'll oblige you. Enjoy."

He put all his rage into that special place in his head and then pushed it out into the crowd. The people looked at him in concern for a split second before they started to shake their heads in confusion. J was almost surprised when the screaming started. The entire crowd was twitching and screaming in psychotic rage. It was much worse than the usual state his victims. They didn't seem to be aware of where they were anymore. They were in such a state of enraged madness. They started tearing at each other, cop and civilian alike. J did notice that Fish was not there in the pile of bodies. So he had to hope she made it out. He stared at the chaos with a grim look for a few moments, and then walked away.

J was very subdued when he went back to where Alice was. She looked at him in concern. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"They're dead. I'm not sure about Fish, but most of the other metahumans are dead. An angry mob got to them. I cant... I just can't..." he slipped to the floor and sat in a heap. "I almost wish I had my former life's ability to just not give a shit. Then this wouldn't hurt so much."

"Oh my god. That's awful." Alice said, sitting on the floor across from him.

"I made them pay. I don't know how I know, but I don't think they'll be getting over my ability entirely this time. I think there will be side effects. When I left, the whole crowd had become enraged crazies. Maybe it will be permanent. They deserve it. Sitting in a padded cell for the rest of their lives. Lets see how they like being locked in a cell. I'm just done with caring. Maybe my previous self was right about the world."

"Don't think like that." Alice said. "Don't give up on the world. Yeah there's a lot of horrible. But there's good too."

"Where? Where is the good? I don't see it." J said.

"It's there. Somewhere." Alice said sighing. "I have a hard time seeing it too. Even my own family have broken my heart before. So it is hard to see the good. But what's the point in living if there isn't anything worth saving? We have to remain positive."

J wondered at her words. She never mentioned her childhood and never talked about her family. It was a taboo subject with her. This was the most she's mentioned about it ever. "I never wanted to pry. But was your family hard to live with?"

"My parents were wonderful. But I lost them too soon. I infected them. We tried to keep them alive for as long as we could but...it wasn't them anymore." Alice said.

"We? Did you have siblings?" J asked.

"...Yes. One. I don't like talking about him." Alice said with an uncomfortable look.

"He's the one that broke your heart, isn't he?" J asked. Alice nodded sadly. "It's ok. You don't have to tell me the details if you don't want to."

"Thank you." Alice pausing. Then she decided to continue. "I don't hate my brother. Even if it might appear if I do. But he's not well. His mind is brilliant, but his madness overshadows all of that. I didn't infect him, if that's what you think. He was always that way. But I always tried to ignore it. Or maybe he made me ignore it. I never knew what I felt around him was real or just what he wanted me to feel. Power like that, corrupts just as much as my infection."

"He's a metahuman too? Was he with us in the lab?" J asked. He was surprised that Alice was talking about her brother. But he felt touched she trusted him with so much personal information.

"He wouldn't ever let someone capture him like that. He'd be able to talk his way out of it. Out of anything really. That's his power. He can control peoples minds if he speaks with them."

"That's why you didn't like Fish. She reminded you of him." J said, understanding.

"Yes. He's done it to me just like everyone else. He always said he'd never do it to me, but I know he did. He couldn't help it." Alice said. "But even so, I still don't hate him for it."

"You still don't hate him? Even after he manipulated you?" J asked. For some reason, the talk of smarter than normal, manipulative siblings was hitting close to home. But as far as J knew, Jerome had never had any siblings so he didn't know where the feeling was coming from.

"Of course not. He's my brother. We were close once. I still love him. Even if he scares me."

"Well, changing the subject here, what are we going to do now?" J asked. "We need to find you an apartment."

"Can you come with me? I feel safer if I'm with you. You can help me keep from hurting anyone. And I can help you not hurt anyone either." Alice said. 

J sighed. "Ok. Then we both need to find an apartment. Though it might be easier for us if you do the actual renting since my face is likely to close a few doors. Or get the police called on us." 

They managed to find a dingy apartment in the Narrows. It wasn't all that great but it was a roof over their heads. And had enough space for both of them. Alice went to her job at a bar while J tried to figure out how to get a real job that didn't involve breaking the law when he had the face of an infamous psychopath. It didn't seem like it would be a possible stunt. But he didn't want to live off of Alice. He might have to swallow his pride at some point and turn to a life of crime. His face might open doors in that career path.

J was at the apartment trying not to be bored out of his mind watching tv, when someone knocked on the door. Who could that be? They already paid rent for the month. It wouldn't be the landlord. He walked cautiously up to the door and heard the person knock again. 

"Who is it?" J asked through the door. "What do you want?"

"I'm here to speak with Alice Tetch. I'm a...private investigator." said the voice on the other side of the door. J recognized the voice from somewhere but couldn't think where. 

"Why do you want to talk to Alice? How do you know her?" J asked. It was odd that anyone even knew Alice. Anyone that would hire a PI.

"Can I come in? It's awkward to speak through the door."

"No. I asked a question."

"This is between my client and Alice. If I could just talk with her..."

"She's not here right now. And I'm not sure I trust someone that won't tell me why he wants to talk to my friend."

"Do you know when she'll be back?" 

"If I did, I'm not sure I'd tell a complete stranger." J said. "It might be best if you just leave."

"Ok. I'll be back." 

"Noted." J said. He didn't trust it. But he wasn't sure why.

J wrestled with himself in what to tell Alice about their visitor. In the end he decided not to tell her. She would want to move and they didn't really have anywhere else to go. And didn't need to worry. He could deal with whatever threat came at them.

A few days later, as J was taking out the trash, an odd man in a top hat and dapper suit came by the apartment building. As J was walking back into the building he saw the man at their apartment door, knocking at the door politely. 

"Can I help you?" J asked the odd man.

"Oh yes." the man said turning around and smiling. "I wonder if I might ask if you knew when Alice or her roommate were due to be back?"

"Can I ask why you want to see them?" J asked. "Just out of curiosity."

"Alice is my sister. I have missed her terribly." the man said with a wistful look.

"Her brother? She doesn't really talk about her family." J said. He remembered what Alice told him about her brother. About his abilities. But it wasn't fair to judge a man based off of that alone. And he didn't really want to see what the man could do if he was impolite to him.

"Yes. I am her brother. May I ask when she or her roommate will be back?"

"Yeah. Right now. Give me a sec." J said before getting out his key and unlocking his apartment door. "Come on in." 

The man tipped his hat at him. "Thank you."

J put the trash bin away. "Have a seat. Do you want something to drink? Alice has a bunch of different teas in a cabinet if you want something." Secretly, J messaged Alice with his cell phone.

**J: Don't come home right now.**

_**Alice: Why? What's happened?** _

"No thank you. Perhaps later." the dapper man said sitting primly in one of the arm chairs. "Will Alice be back soon?"

**J: We have company. I'll give you the details later. Hopefully. Just stay away until I come get you. In person. If I say anything else on here don't believe it.**

_**Alice: Oh no. Its him, isn't it? It's Jervis.** _

"Who's to say really? Her boss can be a bit of a hard ass." J said, trying to stall the man. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with the guy. He didn't want to use his abilities on the man. It was Alice's brother. But her brother had abilities too. 

"You're lying." the man likely named Jervis said in a calm voice. He was smiling smugly. "I can tell. She told you about me, didn't she? How much did my dear Alice say?"

J sighed and sat down. "she said enough. She's afraid of you, did you know?"

"Nonsense! I was everything to her." Jervis said upset. The man stood up and looked at him. "Listen to what I have to say."

J looked at him.

"Look into my eyes, not above them, not below them, but in their center. You only want what's best for Alice. You realize that her being with family is important. A stranger is a poor substitute for a sibling. Nothing would please you more than to tell me where she is and help bring her home to me. When I snap my fingers you will do as I say. All to help Alice." the man snapped his fingers and looked at J expectantly.

J stared at him. And then burst out laughing. "That's a huge relief I have to say. For a second I actually thought something would happen. Sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I was just worried and this is all just overwhelming relief."

Jervis stared at J as if he had grown an extra head. "Pardon me?"

"Don't feel like you're losing your touch. Don't worry." J said. "I'm just not normal. I have abilities too. Not the same abilities but it wouldn't be surprising if they interacted with your ability. My abilities interact with Alice's blood in an interesting way so it's par for the course really. She's not effected as much by me. Not that I'd ever deliberately use them around her. Sometimes they just get away from me."

Jervis looked to be in a state of utter shock. If J had to guess, he had never met someone before that wasn't effected by his mind control abilities.

"I'm J, by the way. Sorry for blowing your mind. You are probably not used to this." J said, holding his hand out to shake his hand. Jervis just looked at him like he was crazy.

"I just tried to control your mind, and failed, and you are still being polite to me?" Jervis said confused.

"Yeah. Trust me. I've seen worse abilities. Abilities that belonged to friends of mine. And I didn't judge them harshly for it. Honestly, I think metahumans like us give life flavor."

"I have to say, this is not how I thought this encounter was going to go. I'm afraid you have me at a loss for words." Jervis said with a very confused look. 

"Story of my life. Nothing is ever normal around me. My whole life is one big clusterfuck of weird. Actually, the most stable thing in my life is my friendship with Alice. She's my only real friend. And is an amazing person."

"You're just friends?" Jervis said a bit more at ease when he heard that.

"You thought we were dating? No. I'm not really interested in her that way. I'm not really interested in anyone that way. As far as I know." J said. "But Alice was the first person to talk to me like I was a person. At least, the first one that I remember. That means something to me." J got up and put on a coat. "You know, you didn't have to try and hypnotize me to get me to help you see Alice. I would've done it anyway."

"You would?"

"Of course. I can tell she misses you sometimes. And she did tell me she never hated you. She was just afraid of you. But if you promise not to manipulate the situation, I can see if she'd be willing to talk to you. But I need to know you won't try anything on her."

"I wouldn't dare. She's my sister." Jervis said as if offended.

"I'm not saying you would. But she is scared that you will. So I have to look out for my friend and make sure you don't try and manipulate her." J got really close to Jervis and stared at him menacingly. "Because if you do try anything, we'll get to see if my abilities affect you or not."

"Noted. What now then?" Jervis asked uncomfortably. 

"Now we head to the bar she works at. You'll have to hang back for a few minutes while I make sure she's ok with this. I don't want to get your hopes up. If she's not down for seeing you, then you might have to come back some other time when she's had time to think about it, if at all. Its up to her. Keep that in mind."

"Shall we go then?" Jervis said with a hopeful look.

When they got to the bar, Jervis hung back outside while J went in through the back. The owners knew him, and didn't care he used to be Jerome. He wasn't sure about the customers views on him though and so he avoided the area that customers were in.

"Alice isn't here." said the waitress that worked the same shift as Alice.

"What? Where is she?"

"She was taken by one of those bounty hunter guys and a cop. Apparently some guys went crazy around her and they were worried she was the cause. The bounty hunter said she was one of the Indian Hill escapees." she said.

J had to hold back his rage. They arrested Alice? He needed to get her out of there. He heard that Indian Hill test subjects tended to get locked in deep dark holes after they were found. 

He exited the bar and frowned into the pavement trying to figure out what he would do. 

"I don't like the face you're making. Something went wrong. Tell me." Jervis said worried.

"Alice was arrested by the cops for being an Indian Hill test subject." J said trying to not fly into a rage.

"What?!" Jervis said, losing his normal unflappable exterior. "How dare they treat her like some common criminal! They will pay!"

J watched Jervis rage and had an idea. Really, either one of them could storm the GCPD and get her out. But the both of them together? The cops would have no chance. Heck, J might not even have to use his power. One look at his face and the cops might run for cover. It hadn't exactly worked out well for them the last time he took a stroll into the GCPD. "Calm down. We'll just get her out."

They rushed to the GCPD. As they stood outside, J stopped Jervis. "So, how are we going about this? Hypnotize a few cops and have them lead her out? Or are we rushing in and scaring them? Because if you aren't aware, before I came back as an Indian Hill test subject, I shot up the GCPD apparently. I think I could just go in there and they'd start shitting themselves without me having to do anything. Or I could use my abilities on them to confuse them. Or maybe a bit of all of that. You could hypnotize a few cops and then send them in and we can create a distraction to see they aren't noticed."

"That sounds like a decent plan." Jervis said before noticing a few cops outside heading towards the entrance. He smiled smugly. "Might you grab those two for me?"

"Sure. Give me a sec." J said. He snuck over to where they were nearly at the entrance and grabbed one of them. The other freaked out and followed. 

"Hey! Let go of him!" the cop cried out. J looked up so the man could see his face and gave him the most demented looking grin he could muster. The man had a scared look on his face. "J..J..Jerome!"

"Follow me or your partner here is toast. And no alerting your coworkers either." J said, trying to act as Jerome-like as he could.

"O...Ok. Please don't hurt us." the cop said. 

When he got back to Jervis he kept hold of the first cop. "Let me introduce you to a new friend of mine. His name is Jervis. Now I want you to listen real close to what he has to say. Can you both do that?"

"Yes. Please just don't hurt me!" the cop in his arms said. The other one also said he would.

"Listen to the sound of my voice." Jervis said, as he launched into his hypnosis routine. This time, J got to see just how well it worked. Soon the two cops were staring blankly into space.

"Wow. You are good. I'm really glad that doesn't affect me." J said, admiring Jervis's work. "Alright lets get this show on the road. Your cop puppets can lead her out here. We can go in through the front entrance and make sure everyone in there pays attention to us. Shouldn't be hard at all."

Jervis told the cops what they needed to do as J made his way to the front entrance. Jervis hurried after him. J was wearing a hat low on his head, so they didn't immediately see his distinctive red hair. 

J and Jervis got through the entrance without anyone really paying them any mind. The desk sergeant saw them. "Hey. Can I help you? You here to report a crime?"

"Why yes, actually." Jervis said smiling. "I wish to report a kidnapping. My sister was taken by the GCPD and brought here without cause. We are here to set her free."

"What?" the desk sergeant asked confused. 

J chose that moment to walk up and take off his hat. "Like the man said, you have a friend of mine. Alice is coming with us. Or things get messy." J said making sure to give the man a very deranged Jerome-like grin.

"Holy shit!" the man cried out as he saw J. He backed up so suddenly that he fell off his chair. The other cops saw J and had looks of shock and fear on their faces. They aimed their guns at the two men and J just grinned wider. He didn't feel like Jerome. This was an act. But damn, it didn't take much. The cops indeed seemed to be shitting themselves. Jervis wasn't sure what to do. He had no way of hypnotizing all of them when they were in this state.

"Didn't really work out well for you all last time, I heard." J said. "Maybe you should just give us Alice and you can go back to your normal boring lives. Or I could make things a lot more interesting. Hmm? Where is Alice?"

"I would have to agree with J here. You may have us outnumbered but we still have tricks up our sleeves. Best just give us what we want." Jervis said with smug look.

The cops didn't move. But they didn't shoot either. They seemed almost frozen in fear staring at the former maniacal psychopath.

"Alright then. The interesting way it is. Enjoy." J said, before reaching deep into himself for his power. "Hey Jervis, stay behind me. I don't want this to affect you too." J closed his eyes for a moment before pushing his power out into the crowd of scared cops. It wasn't as violent as he had done on the angry mob but the cops started to shake their heads and soon were flailing around and mumbling, completely oblivious to what was going on around them. Jervis stared at the crazed and confused cops in shock and a little bit of awe. 

"Your gift is beautiful." Jervis said.

"Yeah yeah. It's not permanent. I think. I just wanted to cause a distraction." J said. "Now I think we should make sure those cops of yours managed to get Alice out."

They headed outside where Alice was being dragged out through the back door struggling the whole way. "Let me go!"

"Alice! Its ok." J said rushing over. "I'm so glad to see you're ok and that we got to you in time."

She looked over at where Jervis was standing. "Are you controlling him? He's my friend!"

"Alice. Chill. I'm immune apparently. He did try but it didn't work." J said rolling his eyes.

"Why are you working together, then? You realize how dangerous he is?" Alice said. 

"Yeah. I'm aware. So am I. Neither of us are perfect, Alice." J said. "You said you didn't hate him. So I figured we could help each other save you from the cops. Neither of us want you sent to some lab again."

"Please, Alice. I am sorry I drove you away by my actions. Let me make it up to you." Jervis said with a sad look. "I forgive you for running."

Suddenly, two detectives rushed over to them and aimed their guns at them. "GCPD! Come quietly, Jerome." the younger detective called out.

"You just don't learn, do you?" J said. "Didn't you learn your lesson last time you pointed a gun at me?" He started getting his power ready again but he didn't think he would be able to manage much. He had already used a lot of it on the other cops. The cops started to get affected a little.

"Stop that!" the younger cop said aiming his gun at J and looking like he was going to fire. 

"No!" Alice said before running in front of J. So when the gun went off, she was hit, not J. Right in the neck. J's face was splattered with her blood as he stared in horror at his friend falling to the ground dead.

"No!" Jervis screamed. He stared at the cop with an enraged look. "You killed her!"

"No..." J said, in shock. "Why?" He turned to the cops and glared at them. "You're lucky I'm not capable of using my power at the moment. I'd send you to a padded cell for the rest of your life!"

"Gentlemen! Kindly shoot these two!" Jervis told the two hypnotized cops with a snarl.

The cops got out their guns and aimed at the detectives. The detectives managed to tackle them while they were trying to comply with Jervis's orders. But it also meant they were distracted long enough that J and Jervis could make a run for it.

When they got back at J's apartment, J sat down and stared at the floor in despair. Jervis was seething and had murder in his eyes. J felt torn between a crushing grief and boiling anger.

"I'm going to make them suffer! They will pay!" Jervis snarled as he paced.

"We can't just kill them. A quick death is too good for them. I am so pissed off right now. You have no idea." J said, with a dangerous edge in his voice. "I've never felt more like I figured Jerome felt than I do right now. I can't stop imagining making those two detectives tear each other apart. Or doing it myself."

"We need to plan. You're right. They can't just die. They need to truly feel the pain we feel." Jervis said still pacing. But he stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed J's face. "Your face...Did any of that get in your mouth or eyes?"

"What?" J asked confused. He rubbed his face and his hand came away with Alice's blood. "Oh... Well, that's not good. I think there's a good chance this got in my mouth. I hadn't noticed."

Jervis tried not to have a look of horror. "Well my friend, it will be interesting to see what Alice brings out in you."

"Who knows, maybe I'm immune to her too?" J said. "I don't feel any different. But I should probably wash it off just in case. Give me a bit. I'll take a shower. I guess I need to burn these clothes."

J left the pacing hypnotist in his living room while he took a shower. He didn't feel different. Just angry. But he wasn't sure if the angry was from the blood or his rage at Alice dying. He hoped that none of it got into his bloodstream. He didn't need another reason he was different.

When J got out of the shower, he saw Jervis sitting in a chair and staring into space with a sad look. He looked up as J entered. "Still feeling the same? Perhaps it didn't get into your bloodstream."

"I don't know. How long does this usually take to tell?"

"It varies between people. Some rather quick. Others it can take a few weeks. Part of it depends on how much someone fights it and how much blood they were exposed to. But it should become quite obvious that you have it well before it truly takes hold." Jervis said.

"Well, that's just wonderful." J said sarcastically. "We should get out of here. One of those detectives knows where this apartment is remember? Or is he a bounty hunter? Point is, they'll search here. And we need to be ready for them."

"I can provide us a place to stay. I 'borrowed' a lovely townhouse recently that could work for now." Jervis said.

"That'll work. Let's get going." J said.

The townhouse seemed like it had belonged to a wealthy young couple that was most likely now dead if Jervis had 'borrowed' it from them. J couldn't bring himself to care in the state he was in. He plopped on the comfortable couch and then thought of something. They didn't have to hypnotize people to get lackeys. If that lab tech from back in Indian Hill was telling the truth, then he already had fans that would probably bend over backwards for him. Well, they were Jerome's fans. But he was Jerome...sort of. He was as close to Jerome as they were ever going to get at this point. But how would he find them? Maybe he could find the lab tech.

"I need a phone book and access to Indian Hill employee records." J said.

"Why? What ever for?" Jervis asked.

"I need to get in touch with someone I met at the lab. But I don't have any way of contacting him. If I do though, we may have a few people willing to help us, no hypnosis required."

"If we can find someone that works for the GCPD records office, I can convince them to give us those records." Jervis said. 

"You are definitely handy to have around." J said smiling at him.

They managed to find someone that worked in GCPD records. J kidnapped them and brought them back to the townhouse, where Jervis worked his magic on them. Soon he had the man completely under his spell and willing to do anything for them. J explained to the man what they needed and sent him off back to his job, where he would grab what they needed and get back to them.

"Here you go." said the hypnotized man, handing J the Indian Hill employee records. Jervis was about to tell the man to go off and kill himself when he had an idea.

"Perhaps we can test if you are infected, J." Jervis said staring curiously at the hypnotized man. 

"Its still contagious even when its passed on to someone else isn't it?" J said, getting what Jervis was thinking of. "Ok. Tell him to come back over here. I have a pocket knife. I can make a small cut. I really hope nothing happens. No offense. I know you find your sister's unique blood beautiful but I don't need anything else making me different."

"I understand. I do. But even if you are infected, it's not the end. It's not a death sentence at all. You will just change. Become the you buried deep down."

"I'm not sure the me buried deep down is all that nice if Jerome is anything to go by." J said. He shook his head and told him that it didn't matter now. Alice was all he had and now she was gone. So who cared what happened to him? He unfolded his pocket knife and put it to his hand. He winced as he gave himself a small cut there. He watched as his blood welled up, Jervis staring in rapt attention. His blood looked so normal. But so did Alice's. 

"Open up. Time to take your medicine." Jervis told the man he had hypnotized. The man obediently opened his mouth and waited as J put his bleeding hand over the man's mouth and let it drip inside. "Now close it and swallow." The man swallowed. "Three. Two. One. Awake."

The man shook his head with a confused look. "Wha...? Where am I?" They stared at him waiting. "Why are you staring at me? Stop that. Stop looking at me." The man stared at the two men with a confused and upset look. "..Stop Looking! Stop Looking!" the man started to rant and his confused look turned to rage. "Stop looking at me!!!" They could see the veins in his forehead and his eyes changed color a little. 

"Oh... Hello Alice." Jervis said with a smile. "Now listen to the sound of my voice..." 

J didn't listen to what Jervis was telling the man. He was too busy trying to take in the fact that he was indeed infected. But he didn't feel any different. So was he immune? A carrier like Alice? 

"What do you think we should do with our friend here?" Jervis asked him, the records man hypnotized again. "I know! How about we let him go back to the GCPD central station? Let them enjoy our little gift." Jervis looked very happy with the idea.

"I suppose. Are you going to release him from his hypnosis?" J said, a little shell shocked. 

"I'll make it to where once he gets to the station he will wake back up. And he'll probably be in a rather bad state mentally by that time. I would love to be a fly on that wall when the cops have to fight off one of their own." Jervis laughed. J watched as Jervis gave the hypnotized man more orders. He barely paid attention. The man was sent on his way and Jervis went and made some tea.

"I still don't feel any different. Maybe I am immune...even if I'm a carrier. How do you tell if it starts?" J asked.

"Have you heard the whispers yet?" Jervis asked.

"What whispers?" 

"When Alice's blood really kicks in, the whispers start. Tempting you to stop fighting it. To accept the real you. If you haven't heard them by now, then maybe you are more like Alice. A carrier, but not affected." Jervis said, sipping his tea. "I understand you would rather not be affected by it...but I confess that I would love to see how it would change you. Who is in there, deep down?"

"Well hopefully we don't have to find out." J said shaking himself out of his shock. "Ok, We need to go through this list of employees. I think we should narrow it down first."

J put the list on the table and started looking through it. Jervis stared at the list as he sipped his tea. "I believe you can cross off any female names. I do believe you said your lab tech was a man?"

"Well, yeah. That's an obvious one." J said, crossing off any feminine names. "He was a lab tech so I assume he'll be listed as a lab tech. So doctors and such should be crossed off as well. And I think any living outside of Gotham can probably be crossed off. That doesn't narrow it down completely. We are going to have to go through this list one by one."

"So are we going to visit all of these people?" Jervis asked.

"No. I can just call them. I remember the man's voice pretty well. If that doesn't work we can figure something else out."

J went through each number listed one by one. The person would answer the phone and then J would listen to their voice. Each time he would say he had the wrong number. But then he heard it. The voice he remembered.

"Hello? This is Dwight. Hello??" J didn't say anything. "Are you serious? This better not be one of you assholes messing around. I don't need this bullshit right now."

J hung up the phone without a word. He had him. Dwight Pollard was his guy. "Bingo. His address is pretty straightforward too. Time to go pay him a visit."

"Do you wish for me to come along?" Jervis asked.

"No. You don't have to. Stay here and continue planning. In fact, go ahead and mess with Gordon if you want. Just don't kill him yet."

"I will try my best." Jervis said smirking.

J silently broke into Dwight's apartment and waited for him, sitting on the cheap couch. When Dwight came in he put away his bag and coat without even noticing J.

"So. How've you been?" J said suddenly as Dwight walked back in the room, making the man jump out of his skin.

"Jerome? Finally." the man said with a slightly crazed smile when he got over his shock.

"I'm actually surprised you didn't try to find me." J said. 

"We never really lost you. Not completely. We were just waiting for you to come to us. I figured that bugging you would be rude." Dwight said with an awed look. 

"Are you serious? You could've help me or the people I was close to so many times and yet you stayed away?" J said with a dangerous look.

"Officer Dove, one of us, helped your lady friend. Back at the station. When those two hypnotized cops walked by they were acting a little odd, he said. Dove vouched for them to detective Bullock. He wished he could've done more. But he didn't want to risk being exposed." Dwight said, trying to explain that they helped where they could. "Plus...we always thought you didn't really need much help. You're so powerful. Strange made you better than you were. Better than a human. We always knew you were special. Even before you were brought back."

"Well, gosh. Way to butter a guy up." J said rolling his eyes at the guy's bullshit.

"It's true. Did you come to me so you could meet all your fans? Because they would be thrilled if that's the case. To have you with us. Finally." Dwight said with a deranged look.

"I suppose. I mean, why not? I need help making sure everything Gordon loves is destroyed. Having a few loyal fans would help immensely."

"Oh you'll have more than a few. You have a whole army's worth." Dwight said grinning.

"A whole army's worth?" J said getting up and walking up to Dwight. "I like the sound of that." J said smiling. He could feel the giddiness inside of him grow. This was going to be so much fun! Disembodied maniacal laughter echoed in his head. He wasn't sure where it was coming from but it didn't stop.

Dwight drove him to the club that they had several meetings at. J's cell phone buzzed so he hung back while he told Dwight to go on ahead. He'd be in in a minute. 

"J, you'll never guess what I did." Jervis said with an almost manic sounding voice.

"What did you do? I don't have a lot of time so give me the cliffnotes version. I found my groupies." J said.

"You did? That's great! Anyway, I tormented James Gordon! I had him choose between saving a lovely bride and groom just married and a small child. He couldn't save both of them. He chose the boy. I wonder what that says about his fear of commitment to not choose the married couple. Maybe he thought they would be better off dead? Oh and guess who I have with me now? Jim's old fiancé and his current girlfriend! I'm going to let him choose between who dies just like the last time. I'm building up to it. I can't wait."

"That's great Jervis. Keep it up. Maybe video tape it when he has to choose? I don't want to miss the look he makes." J said, thinking about how great it would be to see Gordon lose something he cared about.

"Of course. I'll have one of the men I hypnotized video tape it for you. What are friends for?" Jervis said. 

"Yeah. Listen, I'm gonna have to cut you off. Like I said, I found my groupies. And they are waiting for me. Best not disappoint the crowd."

"Say no more. I'll go. Good luck." Jervis said cheerfully before hanging up.

J put his phone away, turned around and walked over to the entrance to the club. He was wearing a hat, so his red hair was hidden, and so it wasn't so odd that the bouncer didn't immediately recognize him. The man grabbed his coat as he attempted to walk in by him.

"Hey buddy. You can't just walk in. It's invitation only." the bouncer said gruffly.

"Then its a good thing I've been invited now isn't it?" J said looking up and grinning, giving the man a full view of his face. The man started gaping like a fish at him. "It might be in your best interest to take your paw off me before I take it off for you."

The man released him and backed away. "Jerome! I'm so sorry. I didn't see you!"

"No harm done. This time." J said cheerfully, trying to ignore the sound of laughing in his head. He turned and walked inside. 

What greeted J when he entered the place was a wild looking club with a very Jerome theme. He saw that Dwight was up on stage telling the excited crowd that Jerome was coming. They seemed overjoyed with the news. But impatient. They kept yelling 'where is he?' and Jerome's name. J figured he'd better not leave them hanging. He started walking through the crowd and as he went, he could see as the crowd started to notice him. They stared at him with pleased and deranged looks. He got to the stage where Dwight was waiting and grabbed the microphone from him.

"Well, hello all. Wow. Who woulda thought I'd have so many fans? I must've done something right, huh?" J said smiling at them. "Or in my case it was something very very wrong." he laughed. And the crowd laughed along with him. It was an overwhelming feeling to have that many faces staring at him with admiring and fanatic looks. It felt so good. The laughing in his head got louder. "Anyway, Dwight here? When he explained to me that I had fans, I thought, this guy must be bullshiting me or something. And when I got out of Indian Hill I just put it out of my mind. But things have happened recently that have reminded me just how awful this world is. What's the point of trying to deny it? And if the world is horrible, why shouldn't I be horrible? Why shouldn't we all be horrible?" He could tell they were eating it up.

At first he thought what he was saying was just stuff to get them on board with helping him. But then he realized, as he listened to the laughter in his head, he believed it. "If you don't know, I recently lost someone I cared about. Boo hoo. And that bastard Jim Gordon shot her. So, I have the sudden desire to take every last thing good ol Jim Gordon loves. And that includes the city itself. Because really, what else does that goody two shoes love more than his precious city? Let Jervis get up close and personal by threatening the women in Jimbo's life. I want to think bigger. And now I have all of you. An entire army worth of maniacs willing to tear this city apart. And you will if I ask, won't you?"

The crowd cheered, screamed and laughed. They screamed out their willingness to do as Jerome said. They screamed out his name. Over and over. J could hear the laughter in his head so loudly now. It was deafening. And then he realized the truth about the laughter. It wasn't whispering. But it was the same as the whispering Jervis mentioned. He wasn't immune at all. And the real big bad J? Deep down in the back of his mind, just waiting for the blood to release him? That was Jerome all along. Jerome probably wouldn't have even been affected by the blood, because he was already the worst version of himself he could be. J might not be able to remember being Jerome... but he definitely felt like Jerome. He grinned at his fans with a deranged grin. He started laughing maniacally, echoing the laughter in his head. His eyes filled with blood as he laughed.

jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

When I was writing the part where he laughs maniacally I could hear the dramatic 'there's going to be a cliffhanger' music that plays just before the episode ends on a dramatic note. I think I've been watching this show too much.

**Author's Note:**

> Without Jerome's memories of trauma and abuse he feels a lot less insane. So I wrote him a bit less insane. Until the blood hit his brain. Then he basically just becomes Jerome again but at his worst. As for Jervis being friendly with J, it isn't against character really. He was surprised by J's immunity to his hypnosis and then was united in his desire for revenge for Alice. He is still a pretty bad guy. And just to be clear, Alice would've definitely still run from him. She might still love him but he is not safe to be around and she knows it. J was unconsciously trying to have himself forgive his brother for being a manipulative bastard too. And didn't have the best judgement even as a sane person.
> 
> Oh and I had no idea what I was creating when I infected J. A Jerome that can drive people crazy and has enhanced physical strength and reflexes? And can infect people with the virus too? AND is Jerome again personality wise? I could've destroyed Gotham with my creation. Who knows? I might actually manage it. We'll have to wait and see.


End file.
